1/48 Testors F/A-18A
Converted to a Canadian CF-18AM
I have wanted to
build a Canadian Hornet for a long time, and when the "On Canadian
Wings" Group Build was on ARC, I decided it was time. I used the 1/48th
Testors kit, and made the modifications for a CF-18A and to bring it up to the
CF-18AM standard. This included adding the search spotlight using Hasegawa
F/A-18 parts, blade-shaped tail stiffeners, 5 blade antennae in front of the
cockpit, fuselage-spine blade antennae and rectangular wing stiffeners. For the
markings, I chose Leading Edge decals' 425 Squadron out of Bagotville. Special
thanks to Sean Bratton for sending me the sheet a few years back! I also want to
thank Charlie "Cheetah" and Dan Williams for their help and
inspiration.
Click on
images below to see larger images
I also decided
to make it in-flight, and wanted to have weapons on it depicting an air
defense configuration, much like some photos I had seen on the Canadian
Forces website. I used 2 AIM-9 Sidewinders and 2 AIM-7 Sparrows, decaled
with Two Bobs missile decals, and with 2 fuel tanks.
I painted it using Tamiya spray - Light Ghost
for the lighter grey, and Medium Grey for the darker grey.
The Leading Edge decals are nice, but did not
adhere well, or respond well to setting solution with silvering being common.
Based on that, I left many of the small stencils off knowing they would not work
very well. I used the false canopy decals from the Testors kit.
Knowing most Canadian Hornets are pretty
weathered, I used a water based dark grey wash and went heavy on it. Letting it
dry in some places without wiping it off gave me the effect I wanted, actually
by accident.
I then finished up the display base with a
printed label affixed in an acrylic frame.
Thanks for looking.
Ken Middleton
Click on
images below to see larger images
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